Introduction to Modelling and Simulation

• Gen View of Modelling and Simulation

• Challenges in Modelling

• Course Information

Dr Hammad Ur Rahman,
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
NUST College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
[email protected]
Recommended Text:
• Modeling and Simulation of Dynamic Systems 1st Edition by Robert L Woods, Kent L. Lawrence
• Introduction to Physical System Dynamics by RC Rosenberg and D Karnopp
• Introduction to Physical System Modeling by PE Wellstead
• Introduction to MATLAB for Engineers, 3rd Edition By William J. Palm III, University of Rhode Island
 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
• System

• Experiment

• Model

• Simulation

• Why M&S

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• System
▪ A system is an object or collection of objects whose properties we
want to study.
▪ Real or virtual environment viewed as a source of observational data
or more specifically, behavior.
▪ Why do we want to study a system?
o Study a system to understand it in order to build it. This is the
engineering point of view.
o Satisfy human curiosity, e.g. , to understand more about nature—the
natural science viewpoint.
▪ A system can contain subsystems which are themselves systems.
▪ Natural and artificial systems
▪ An important property of systems is that they should be observable.
o -Input and output
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Concept of a System
o System Concept
▪ A system has certain distinct objects, each of which has properties of
interest.
▪ There are interactions occurring in the system that causes change in
the system.
▪ Object of interest in the system → Entity
▪ Property of entity → Attribute
▪ Process that causes change in system → Activity
▪ Description of entities, attributes, and activities at a point of time →
State of a system
▪ Progress of a system is studied by observing the change in state of a
system
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • System Environment
o System Concept
o System
▪ Changes occurring outside the system that effect the system are said
Environment
to occur in the system environment
▪ Example : the factors controlling the arrival of orders may be
considered to be outside the influence of the factory and therefore
part of the environment.
▪ Endogenous → describes activities occurring within the system
▪ Exogeneous → Activities in the environment that affect the system
▪ No Exogeneous activity → closed system
▪ Exogeneous activity present → open system

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• System Environment
o System Concept
o System
Environment ▪ When the outcome of an activity can be described completely in
terms of its input, the activity is said to be deterministic.

▪ Where the effects of the activity vary randomly over various possible
outcomes , the activity is said to be stochastic.

▪ Continuous System: the system in which changes are predominantly

smooth - Example: aircraft, CPU scheduling model

▪ Discrete System: the system in which changes are predominantly

discontinuous - Example: factory, number of students attending the
class
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Dynamic Systems
o System Concept
o System ▪ systems that are not static, i.e., their state evolves w.r.t. time, due to:
Environment
o Dynamic Systems o input signals,
❑ Definition
o external perturbations,
o or naturally.
• For example, a dynamic system is a system which changes:
▪ its trajectory → changes in acceleration, orientation, velocity,
position.
▪ its temperature, pressure, volume, mass, etc.
▪ its current, voltage, frequency, etc.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Steps in the Design of Dynamic System
o System Concept
o System
Environment
o Dynamic Systems Block Classical
❑ Definition
❑ System
Diagrams Methods
Design

Physical Engineering Differential Computer

System Model Equations Simulation

Bond
Graphs

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Dynamic Systems
o System Concept
o System
Environment
o Dynamic Systems
▪ Electrical
❑ Definition
❑ System
Design
❑ Examples
▪ Mechanical

▪ Electro-Mechanical

▪ Hydraulic

▪ Thermal

▪ Pneumatic 9
 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Examples of Dynamic Systems
o System Concept
o System
Environment
o Dynamic Systems
❑ Definition
❑ System
Design
❑ Examples

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
o System Concept
o System
Environment
o Dynamic Systems
❑ Definition
❑ System
Design
❑ Examples
𝑑2𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑚 +𝑅 + 𝐾𝑥 = 𝐹(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡2 𝑑𝑡2
Differential equations

Engineering model

Physical system
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
o System Concept
o System
Environment
o Dynamic Systems
❑ Definition
❑ System
Design
❑ Examples

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Experiments
▪ Experiments ▪ An experiment is the process of extracting information from a system
by exercising its inputs.
▪ To perform an experiment on a system it must be both controllable (for
inputs) and observable (for outputs).
o Inaccessible and uncontrollable inputs are sometimes called
disturbance inputs.
o Unobservable outputs are sometimes called internal states.

▪ Practical problems associated with experiments.

o The experiment might be too expensive
o The experiment might be too dangerous (chemical systems)
o The system needed for the experiment might not yet exist
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Model
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ A model of a system is anything an "experiment" can be applied to in
order to answer questions about that system.
▪ This implies that a model can be used to answer questions about a
system without doing experiments on the real system.
▪ A model is always related to the system it models and the experiments
it can be subject to. A model of a system might be valid for one
experiment on the model and invalid for another.
▪ The term model validation, always refers to an experiment or a class of
experiments to be performed

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Model
▪ Experiments
▪ Model

http://www.thepoachedegg.net/the-poached-egg/2010/06/christian-
apologetics-blind-men-the-elephant-and-the-zoo.html 15
 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Modelling
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ the field of science which formulates a mathematical representation
o Modelling of a system:
• for analysis / understanding (unstable, stable, observable,
controllable, etc.)
• Simulation
• control purposes.

▪ Usually, we have to deal with nonlinear time-varying system, i.e.,

system for which the output is not directly proportional to the input.
Example of nonlinearities?
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Modelling
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
o Modelling

or as a transfer function (linear time-invariant system)

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Modelling
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ A model is simplification of reality, careful consideration needs to be
o Modelling given in creating a model.
▪ If model is very detailed and complex, it may be difficult to estimate
its parameters, and if will be very difficult to analyze.
▪ If model is very simple it may not capture important features.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments Models
▪ Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models

Physical Mathematical

Dynamic Static Dynamic

Numerical Analytical Numerical

Simulation 19
 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Physical Models
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o These are based on some analogy between such systems as
mechanical and electrical or electrical and hydraulic.
o In physical model of a system, system attributes are represented
by measurements such as voltage or position of shaft.
o The system activities are reflected through the physical laws
through which model has been derived.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Mathematical Models
o Modelling o Use symbolic notation and mathematical equations to represent a
o Types of Models
system.
o Attributes are represented by variables and the activities
represented by mathematical functions that interrelate the
variables.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Static / Dynamic Models
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Static Models: represents a system at a particular point in time
when the system is in balance.
o Dynamic Models: represents systems as they change overtime
that result from system activities.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Numerical / Analytical Models
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Numerical Models: Applies computational procedures to solve
equations – Example: The solution may be derived in the form of
a complicated integral which then needs to be expanded as a
power of series for evaluation.
o Analytical Model: To find the model that can be solved and best
fits the system being studied – Example: Linear differential
equations

[Simulation: is considered to be a numerical computation technique

used in conjunction with dynamic mathematical model]
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Static Physical Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Static physical model is a scaled down model of a system which
does not change with time
o Example : An architect before constructing a building, makes a
scaled down model of the building, which reflects all it rooms.
outer design and other important features
o Scaled models are used in wind tunnels and water tanks during
designing of aircraft and ships

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Dynamic Physical Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Dynamic physical models are ones which change with time or
which are function of time
o Example: In wind tunnel, small aircraft models are kept and air is
blown over them with different velocities. Here wind velocity
changes with time.

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Static / Dynamic Mathematical Models
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Static mathematical model gives the relationships between the
system attributes when the system is in equilibrium.
o A dynamic mathematical model allows the changes of system
attributes to be derived as a function of time

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Mathematical models of dynamic systems can also be subdivided
o Modelling into two broad classes
o Types of Models
o parametric models (PM)
o non-parametric models (NPM)

General definition of a system, input u(t) ∈ ℝm ,

output y(t) ∈ Rp , internal state variable x(t) ∈ Rn

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Parametric Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models

Spring mass system with viscous damping

o Differential equation with parameters: mass: m, viscous damping:

d, spring constant: k

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
▪ Non-Parametric Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models
o Impulse response of a damped
mechanical oscillator
o Non parametric models have
several drawbacks
❑ require the system to be
accessible for experiments
❑ cannot predict the behavior
of a modified system
❑ not useful for systematic
design optimization
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System • Types of Models
▪ Experiments
▪ Model
o Modelling
o Types of Models

From Michael W. Macy, Social Life in Silico: Population Health from the Bottom Up, presentation in NIH, July 13, 2007

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Model
▪ Experiments ▪ Weather Prediction Example
▪ Model
o Modelling o Possible models to predict the weather tomorrow
o Types of Models ❑ Mystery-based models (e.g., whenever my right eyelid twitches, it is
going to rain tomorrow)
❑ Statistic models (historical temperature on this day of the year; Given
that is rained today, what is the probability that it will rain tomorrow)
❑ Time series models (e.g., moving average)
❑ Neural network (using NN to represent the dynamic system, e.g.,
today‘s weather type, wind level, time of year -> tomorrow’s weather
type)
❑ Expert systems (combining all observations, patterns, rules, and data to
give predictions)
❑ Simulation model (explicitly model the space and the physical process
of the system)
o How do you predict the stock market?
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Simulation
▪ Experiments ▪ A simulation is an experiment performed on a model.
▪ Model
▪ Simulation ▪ Examples:
o An industrial process such as steel or pulp manufacturing, to learn about
the behavior under different operating conditions in order to improve
the process.
o Vehicle behavior, e.g., of a car or an airplane, for the purpose of
providing realistic operator training.
o Simplified model of a packet-switched computer network, to learn
about its behavior under different loads in order to improve
performance.
▪ It is important to realize that the experiment description and model
description parts of a simulation are conceptually separate entities.
▪ The value of the simulation results is dependent on how well the model
represents the system.
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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Simulation
▪ Experiments ▪ Simulation is typically considered as a different approach from analytical
▪ Model
▪ Simulation techniques. They differ in the following two ways:
o Ability of dealing with complexity: analytical techniques usually apply
only under a set of simplifying assumptions.
o Way of work: analytical solutions are derived from mathematical
analysis; simulation results are generated from simulations.

▪ Consider the following example:

o Using analytical techniques to show how r changes over time.

o Using simulation to show how r changes over time

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 General View of Modelling and Simulation
• General View
▪ System
• Why M&S
▪ Experiments ▪ Experiments are too expensive, too dangerous, or the system to be
▪ Model
▪ Simulation investigated does not yet exist.
▪ Why M&S
▪ The time scale of the dynamics of the system is not compatible with that
of the experiment. For example, it takes millions of years to observe
small changes in the development of the universe.
▪ Variables may be inaccessible in real system. In simulation all variables
can be controlled.
▪ Easy manipulation of models.
▪ Suppression of disturbances and suppression of second-order effects.
This can allow us to isolate particular effects and thereby gain a better
understanding of those effects

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 Challenges of Modeling
• General View
• Challenges of
• Modeling is to develop an abstraction of a system.
Modelling
• A good model should capture only the relevant information, ignore the
irrelevant information.
• What is relevant (or irrelevant) depends on your modeling goal.

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 Challenges of Modeling
• General View
• Challenges of
• Falling in love with a model – the Pygmalion effect (who falls in love with
Modelling one of his sculpture works).
• Forcing reality into the constraints of a model
o the Procrustes effect (who forces victims to fit into a torturing bed).
o if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

• Forgetting the model's level of accuracy. All models have simplifying

assumptions and we have to be aware of those in order to correctly
interpret the results.

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 Challenges of Modeling
• General View
• Challenges of
Modelling

from: Michael W. Macy, Social Life in Silico: Population Health from the Bottom Up, presentation in NIH, July 13, 2007

38
 Challenges of Modeling
• General View
• Challenges of
Modelling

from: Michael W. Macy, Social Life in Silico: Population Health from the Bottom Up, presentation in NIH, July 13, 2007

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 Course Information - Topics
• General View S.No Topic Week/Lecture
• Challenges of
Modelling
• Course Information 1 Fundamentals of Modelling and Simulation 1
▪ Topics 2 Modeling of mechanical systems (springs, dampers, mass, 2-3
translational and rotational systems, geared systems)

3 Modeling of electrical systems (capacitor, inductor, resistors, 4-6

and analog electronic devices),
4 Modeling of hydraulic and pneumatic systems 7
5 Modeling of Mechatronics systems (Electro-mechanical, fluid – 8-9
mechanical and Electro-hydraulic systems)

6 System dynamic response analysis (frequency response), 10-11

7 State space analysis 12

8 Numerical techniques, time response and digital simulation 13-14

9 Stochastic simulation, Monte Carlo methods 15-16

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 Course Information - Targets
• General View S.No Outcomes Level of PLO
• Challenges of
Modelling Learning
• Course Information
• Topics 1 Knowledge of fundamentals of Modelling and C2 1
▪ Targets
Simulation
2 Analyses of complex Systems C4 2
3 Implement mathematical models of systems in C5 5
MATLAB
4 Evaluate simulations using Simulink C5 5
5 Implement modelling and simulation in the different C4 3
fields of engineering and their application

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 Course Information - Evaluation
• General View
• Challenges of
Modelling
• Course Information
▪ Topics
▪ Targets GRADING SYSTEM:
▪ Evaluation
1. Midterm 30%
2. Quizzes 10%
3. Assignments 10%
4. Final 50%

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